Earlier this month, Williams Lake First Nation cultural co-ordinator David Archie handed an abalone shell filled with water to officials at a blessing and groundbreaking ceremony to mark the official start of construction on a long-awaited redevelopment project at Cariboo Memorial Hospital (CMH) in Williams Lake, B.C.
Today, construction crews are onsite working on utilities buried deep underground as well as patient and visitor parking lots, preparing the venue for the first phase of a $366.5-million expansion and renovation.
“Beginning construction on the redevelopment of Cariboo Memorial Hospital is a significant milestone,” says Susan Brown, president and CEO of Interior Health. “I know the people of Williams Lake and surrounding communities are looking forward to the expansion and the improvements to health services the upgraded hospital will bring.
“I am grateful for the contributions from our First Nations partners in the design of the new building. It is such a well-planned space that will benefit not only patients and their families, but also Interior Health staff and physicians.”
Local First Nations communities have played a significant role in the design of the modern, three-storey building.
They contributed to the design through participation in user group meetings that addressed cultural safety and the inclusion of an interfaith sacred space in the addition that will allow for traditional cultural and healing practices. They also provided input into culturally sensitive colour schemes, landscaping and artwork.
Construction on the project will occur in two phases. The first phase, which will include the three-storey extension plus a basement totalling more than 100,000 square feet, is expected to finish in 2026. The second phase will start after that and include further renovations that are scheduled to be completed in 2029.
Graham Design Builders LP is doing the phase one work. The team includes Stantec Architecture Ltd. and Stantec Consulting Ltd. Graham also recently signed a construction management agreement for phase two.
Michael Morton, director of major capital projects at Interior Health, says the cost of the project will be shared between the Ministry of Health, Interior Health and the Cariboo Chilcotin Regional Hospital District.
Renovations to the existing facility include a new main entry and registration area, an interfaith sacred space, ambulatory care unit, mental health and substance use unit and space to accommodate a partnership with the UBC Faculty of Medicine.
As part of the first phase, the foundation will be installed for a cast-in-place concrete structure that will have steel-stud framed walls with terracotta clad and glazed curtain wall. The facility will have a metal-clad mechanical plant room on the roof.
Twenty-five new beds will be added for a total of 53. This includes a new medical/surgical inpatient unit with 36 beds, an increase from the present 16, a new mental-health and substance-use inpatient unit with eight single-occupancy rooms, a patient-seclusion room and an expanded ambulatory-care and oncology unit with 16 renovated treatment spaces.
There will be a new emergency department with 23 treatment spaces, an increase of 12, two trauma-treatment bays, a seclusion room, an ambulance car port and a separate public entrance.
As well, the new addition will have an expanded maternity and women’s health unit with four single-occupancy rooms for maternity care, two nursery rooms and two women’s health beds in private rooms. The maternity area will allow parents to stay in the same room with their babies until they are ready to go home.
The pharmacy will be expanded. Meanwhile, an additional 71 new parking stalls will be added.
In the second phase, renovations will be made to the existing facility. The changes will be built to minimum LEED Gold Certification requirements.
The updated and expanded hospital will improve access to care for people in Williams Lake and surrounding Cariboo-Chilcotin area, including the First Nations of the Secwépemc, Tŝ ilhqot’in and Dãkelh Dené.
Morton says the current facility at CMH was constructed in the 1960s, with additions and renovations done in the 1970s and 1990s. The facility has insufficient parking and care delivery challenges that must be addressed.
“The CMH project has been designed to meet the current and future needs of the local community and surrounding communities within the Cariboo Chilcotin Region,” says Morton.
The project had been talked about for years, but the idea picked up steam after provincial Health Minister Adrian Dix visited Williams Lake in 2017 during the wildfires.
Williams Lake First Nation Chief Willie Sellars, who is a member of the Interior Health board of directors, said it was important to include the Secwépemc people in planning the project.
“Holding up the Indigenous peoples of this land is a big part of reconciliation discussion,” he said.
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